Thursday, September 12, 2013

Intellectual Ventures Arms Nest With Patent Rights

Bellevue-based Intellectual Ventures has signed up a high profile license partner, smart thermostat maker Nest, the company said this week. According to Intellectual Ventures, it is in an agreement with Nest Labs, giving Nest non-exclusive rights to Intellectual Ventures' portfolio of patents. Financial details of the deal, and specifics on the patent rights exchanged by the firm were not announced. Nest said in a statement that it is being "very aggressive" in bringing technology to market, the deal will allow it to "defend our innovative products" in the market. Nest is currently engaged with traditional thermostat maker Honeywell in a patent fight. Honeywell had sued nest over its patents back in February of 2012.